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ized it could not be sponge they held, and curiousity got the better of them. They took several pieces of the stuff to a local trader for his opinion. On being informed it was ambergris, they raced back as quickly as possible only to find that most of it had gone out with the tide. Somewhat dissappointed, they gathered up as much of it as they could and carried it back with them. The sale of the ambergris made them all wealthy enough to know life-long independence thereafter.
Most people who know ambergris are aware that it is a formation within the intestinal tract of the sperm-whale, but few realize that the condition exists in only one among thousands of the mammals. Why it should be there at all, and why it occurs so infrequently is a mystery as deep as the ocean. It is not, apparently, a diseased condition of the whale for the old whalemen agree that a whale holding ambergris is as healthy and normal as one without it.
Because ambergris is used in perfumes, some people are of the opinion it is pleasant of scent — but this is a mistaken idea. Most ambergris is practically free from odor, although it sometimes gives off a greasy, fishy smell. It is often porous and usually of firm texture. As a rule, it is grayish in color, but it can be brown, purple, yellow, black or white. Sometimes it is of a mottled appearance combining two or more of the colors mentioned. But the most valuable ambergris is that which is grayish.
Ambergris has been known to be taken directly from its housing place in the intestinal tract of the sperm
inf J**™, 1947
whale, but in most cases it has been procured from beaches or found floating on the surface of the sea.
Ambergris is the most important ingredient used in the making of rare and expensive perfumes. Chemists have tried to find a synthetic substitute for ambergris, but all their efforts have been in vain.
The reason that ambergris is so vitally essential to the making of fine and costly perfumes is that it is the only known product which will, without damage to the intended scent, "fix" it. This is true because of its ability to absorb the floral or other scent, and perfect a long lingering odor.
Many times women have complained that a certain perfume, although pleasing of scent, lost its fragrance soon after being applied. They erroneously attribute this to the particular floral scent they found to be so fickle of odor. The truth is that the difference between a lasting fragrance and a vanishing one is the use of a tiny amount of ambergris in its manufacture.
When one considers the minute quantity of ambergris which is used in a whole pint of perfume, it seems strange that the substance should be considered so rare and so highly prized. Although it is true that the value of ambergris has declined with the advent of cheaper, synthetic perfumes in recent years, it varied very little for a great many years before this. Ambergris is, nevertheless, still sought after avidly and remains yet one of the most priceless substances found.